


The Other 'Other Guy'

by MaladaptiveDaydreamer



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: DID Bruce, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, JARVIS - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-26 00:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaladaptiveDaydreamer/pseuds/MaladaptiveDaydreamer
Summary: Bruce begins to sense that Hulk may not be the only alternate personality that lives in his head.





	The Other 'Other Guy'

Bruce was feeling strange. 

Not that this was unusual for him; it was actually strange for him to not feel strange. 

But not like this. 

In the past month, things have been pretty normal, well, normal for an Avenger who has an angry green alter ego who loves to smash.

But in the past few days, something changed. And at first, nobody, not even Bruce himself, noticed, until a certain a certain playboy billionaire philanthropist commented on his science bro’s odd behavior.

They were working in the lab; Bruce was deep in concentration, his brows furrowed. 

Tony was tinkering with his tech, as usual, inventing some new contraption that would probably make him even richer and save more lives. He was droning on to Bruce about radial gamma-wave straighteners while Bruce listened as he worked. It wasn’t until he looked up at Bruce as they were chatting when he realized something was off.

“Uh, Bruce, you good?” 

Bruce didn’t hear him. He couldn’t hear anything, anymore, not even the sound of his microscope hitting the floor. All he could do was stare at his shaking hands. Were those his hands? He honestly couldn’t tell anymore. He felt different. Like he was so-

“Hey, buddy? Earth to Bruce? You still with me?” He tapped his shoulder. 

Still no response.

“Bruce? Hel-?” Suddenly, the scientist awoke from his catatonic state and grabbed Tony’s arm with a growl.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” His voice was slightly deeper than usual. His expression was cold and hard, which was very unlike the mild mannered scientist.

Tony backed off, very confused at the outburst. “Hey, take it easy, bud. Just trying to help snap you back into reality.”

Bruce’s face suddenly softened. He blinked. “Tony? How did you get over here so fast?” He seemed just as confused as Tony was. He saw the baffled look on Tony’s face. “What’s wrong?”

Tony scratched his fabulous beard. “Oh, nothing really.” He looked at Bruce curiously. “Do you do that often?”

“Do what?”

“Oh, you know, zone out and suddenly become Mr. Hyde? Or was that the Other Guy saying hi?”

Bruce was suddenly worried. “Wait, I did that? Zone out? Oh geez.” He nervously twiddled his fingers. “What did I say?”

Tony smirked. “Don’t worry, you didn’t insult me or my mom, so you’re all good. Although you did grip my arm pretty tight.” Bruce opened his mouth to apologize but Tony stopped him. “It’s fine. It’s not like you went ‘Hulk Smash’ on me. Now that would’ve hurt a lot worse.”

Bruce smiled slightly. 

Throughout the rest of the week, Bruce felt even more strange. For some reason, he kept ending up in rooms he couldn’t even remember walking into. In addition, to his dismay, he started having splitting headaches so intense he had to take some Tylenol just to stay sane.

One night, as Bruce was getting ready to go to bed, he heard a voice.

He spun around in his room. “Oh, it’s just you,” he breathed a sigh of relief.

“What do you mean it’s ‘just me?’ I’m a little offended,” Tony said, faking offense. He was wearing a button down pajama shirt with pajama pants that had little iron man helmets on them. “Anyway, I came in to—“ he noticed the bags under. Bruce’s eyes and how exhausted he looked. “Hey, I thought I was the only insomniac around here.” He tried to sound joking but Bruce could hear the worry in his voice.

“Tones, I’m fine, really, I-“

“If the bed’s the problem I could easily buy you a bigger, better, more comfy one more suited to you,” Tony started. “Or if the room’s too small you could move into a bigger one-“ 

“Tony, really, I’m fine,” he stumbled towards his bed before clumsily sitting on it, which didn’t help prove his point at all. “I just haven’t been sleeping well is all.” Lie. He hadn’t been sleeping at all.

Tony sauntered over and sat on the bed next to Bruce.

“Are you okay? You’ve been acting a little—er— off lately. Are you sick? Wait, can you even get sick?-“

Bruce sighed. He really was grateful for Tony letting him stay at the Tower and for him pampering him. But right now he was tired and didn’t want to give him any more trouble. The man had enough problems of his own—he definitely didn’t need any more, especially since he was still getting over his breakup with Pepper.

“Honestly, Tony, I don’t need anything. You’ve given me more than I could ever want.” The shy scientist smiled at him tiredly. 

“Well, what’s the point of being an eccentric billionaire if you can’t spoil the people you care about?” Tony grinned as he casually side hugged Bruce, causing him to blush. “But Bruce, seriously, if you ever want or need or want/need anything, all you have to do is ask and it’ll be yours in a heartbeat.” 

Tony looked at Bruce, noticing every worry line that covered his face. “You deserve more than you think you do.” He then gave the other man another quick hug before heading off to bed and bidding him good night. 

Bruce sat there long after Tony left, still thinking about those words. “You deserve more.”

He also thought about his zoning out in the lab, and hoped whatever was happening to him would stop soon.

That night, Bruce actually managed to sleep well, for the first time in a while. Maybe it was because of Tony, or maybe his luck had finally turned around. All that mattered is that he could finally sleep without hearing the strange voice in his head that constantly whispered to him.

The next day, however, was a much different story.

“Sir? Dr. Banner?” 

The sleepy scientist awoke suddenly and bolted upright, startled by the unexpected voice. “Huh? Jarvis?” He rubbed his eyes, his vision blurry. He reached for where his glasses were, or rather, where they should have been. 

“Sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to frighten you, but it appears that you’ve been sleepwalking again.” The AI informed him.

“Huh? Again?” Extremely confused, Bruce slowly looked around, attempting to focus his eyes, and suddenly found himself lying on the carpet on the floor of Tony’s enormous living room that was illuminated by the sun shining through the giant window on the other side of the room. “Oh no.” He groaned, running his hand through his morning hair. This can’t be happening again, he thought.

But of course it could. Because it was.

“Dr. Banner? Are you alright? Should I alert Tony-“

“No!” He didn’t mean to shout. “No, that’s alright, I’m okay.” He stood up clumsily. He’d been asked that question so many times it had become a habit to lie. Besides, Tony had enough to worry about. He didn’t want to be even more of a burden than he already was.

He stressed as he made his way back to his room, worrying about how he’d explain himself if he was ever caught doing weird crap like that again. Thank goodness Tony hadn’t seen him. He probably would’ve thought he had lost his mind. Or, at least, the remainder of it anyway.

When he entered his room, he couldn’t believe his eyes. 

Everything was a mess. Clothes were littered all over the floor, and even his bed looked as though he had hulked out on it. Bruce swore. How in the world could this have happened? Tony’s building was one of the most secure buildings in the entire country, if not the entire world, so there was no way someone just snuck in and committed this atrocity without at least being noticed by the several hundred security cameras in Stark Industries. And besides, even if someone was capable of doing so, why would they do this to him? 

Then came a thought. 

Was it possible that he had suddenly been possessed by the hulk? Could that be why his room was seriously trashed and why his memory sucked even more than usual?

He wished he could communicate with the jolly green giant, but their system didn’t work like that, sadly.

Then he had an idea. What if it could?

During the several weeks that followed, Bruce went to work to test his hypothesis. He began building a device that would hopefully let him communicate with his enormous green rage monster. He occasionally missed a few days of sleep, but hey, it’s a small price to pay to make amends with your giant green alter ego.

Throughout these weeks, Tony would constantly pop by to check in and see how he was doing. He would even offer to help him.

“But Brucie, we’re science bros, come on!” Tony whined when Bruce told him he didn’t need any help. “We’re supposed to be in this together!” He moped.

“Tony, I really appreciate you wanting to help, but this is something I need to do by myself.” He hated not letting him help. But he couldn’t risk zoning out on him again and possibly weirding him out even more than he probably already has.

“Well, at least let me test it out when you’re finished. I’d really like to have a chat with my own inner demons,” he joked. Bruce told him he was working on a device that would allow him to communicate with the hulk, so he knew what he was building, just not exactly why. “So, basically, you’re making this thing so you and the Big Guy can communicate better?” He scratched his head. “I thought you two could already do that since, you know, you two share a body?”

“Well, yes, but,” Bruce sighed. “It’s complicated.” He frowned, trying to figure out how to properly explain his situation. “Occasionally, he does speak to me. Mostly to tell me how puny I am or how I should let him out. Sometimes, though, we do have actual conversations, usually when I’m asleep or unconscious.” 

Tony was fascinated. “Really? So this device would enhance your neurons in a way that they would be able to fire faster, enabling you to communicate with your angry other half in an easier manner?”

“Hypothetically speaking, yes. That is, if everything goes well,” The doctor laughed nervously.

“Well, if you’d let me help, I’d be able to guarantee that it would.” Tony pouted, his face similar to that of a puppy begging for food.

Bruce sighed. How could he resist that face? “Fine, you can help,” Tony’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “On one condition: no goofing off. We need to be serious.”

Tony nodded, his facial features turning serious, except for his gleeful eyes. He loved getting what he wanted, especially when it came to spending time with his favorite genius. “Anything for you, Brucie.”

The next few days seemed to fly by for Bruce. Ever since Tony started lending him a hand in the lab, he’d not only been twice as productive as before, but his mood had also improved exponentially.

Tony tended to have that effect on him, and he knew it too. 

He knew it when he would make Bruce chuckle over a stupid joke. He knew it when his mouth would slightly twitch upwards every time he spoke to him. He especially knew it when Bruce decided to let him help with this little project of his. The scientist was a stubborn man who normally refused any kind of assistance, especially when it came to his work, so Tony was proud to be able to get past his defenses. 

But he was most proud of being able to say he knew the incredible, selfless person that was Bruce Banner.

One evening, as they continued to tinker in the lab, Tony was preparing to insert the hyper stage gearbox into the luminal synthesizer of the device when he looked across the room and noticed how drained his lab partner looked. The doctor’s hair was just plain chaotic and he appeared to be on the verge of drooling. His face looked even worse. Even the bags under his eyes had bags.

“Okay, I think it’s time to hit the hay, bud.” He set down his tools, hoping his lab partner would do the same.

He didn’t. He just sat in his chair, almost catatonic, staring into space.

It was strange. Usually Tony was the sleep-deprived insomniac who had to be dragged or bribed out of his workspace to be forced to sleep. Now it seemed as though his bad habits were rubbing off on Bruce. Tony felt a surge of guilt. Was this why Bruce originally didn’t want his help?

Bruce’s glasses suddenly slid off his face and fell onto his desk, stirring the sleepy scientist out of his slumber. “Auh huh? Did you say something, Tony?” His brilliant brown eyes blinked rapidly in an attempt to focus on his surroundings. “Ah, man. I’m sorry, must have zoned out again.” He mumbled as he slowly stood up.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh good, you’re awake. I was afraid you’d passed out from sleep deprivation or dehydration.” He walked over and helped the doctor up. “You know, that’s usually my thing. I guess I’m a bad influence on you, huh?”

Bruce snorted. “Oh definitely. That must be why I’ve been so eccentric and gregarious lately.”

Tony rolled his eyes playfully. “Okay, gregarious, absolutely, but eccentric? Really? I’m more quirky but okay.” He chuckled as they casually walked out of the lab.


End file.
